THE CHALLENGE:
To execute on their digital transformation strategy, our customer’s IT department needed to contribute to improve the product time to market, improve productivity of employees, maintain intellectual asset security & create new platforms for innovative products. All of this was going to be possible by designing & accelerating their journey to the cloud, while modernising their network to support this transition. Specifically, the IT teams faced the following challenges:
- Complex network architecture: Each branch operated multiple layers of security, switching, WAN optimisation and routing elements.
- High operating cost: Ongoing hardware maintenance, operations & the need to maintain different skillsets within the team – all contributed to high operating cost.
- Inefficient traffic routing across all available links: traffic was only able to use one active path at a time with failover built when the primary path failed. This meant that most of most of the network capacity was unused.
- Lack of visibility on traffic patterns/trends: There was little to no visibility on the traffic flowing on the network, thus impeding our customer’s ability to respond rapidly to business needs.
- Long delivery lead time: Network install times to react to business needs were long and took months.
- Unoptimised cloud application traffic: Hub & spoke architecture for cloud access meant unpredictable and often unoptimised user experience for users.
THE SOLUTION:
Tata Communications solution architects rolled up their sleeves to solve this complex requirement, and working with the customer’s IT teams, made plans to harness the two public clouds of AWS & Azure as a part of their cloud migration journey, with IZOTM Multi Cloud Connect serving as the landing zone. Separately, SDWAN was chosen as their primary technology for phase 1 implementation, with SSE in phase 2, thus helping achieve a fully SASE compliant network. Our solution comprised of below components as part of the customer’s phase-1 deployment:
- 4 x IZOTM Multi Cloud Connect with virtual Fortinet SDWAN instances
- 34 x IZO WAN links & 15 x BYON links
- 33 x SDWAN devices (Fortinet SDWAN)
- 1 x MPLS link for China site connectivity
- …more sites & devices continue to get added to this solution as deployments continue and expand to cover global operations
Additionally, regulatory limitations in China which block any VPN connectivity going in/out of China, imposed a challenge in managing the remote users within China who were using the Forticlient VPN application. Tata Communications customised the deployment of IZOTM Multi Cloud Connect and spun up an instance of VM running Microsoft Windows Server to run the Fortinet EMS application to manage Forticlient users locally, and another VM running Fortigate VNF acting as firewall.
THE RESULTANT OUTCOMES FOR THE CUSTOMER:
The customer accrued several benefits across parameters such as improved performance, simplified architecture, reduced costs, etc. Specifically, the outcomes listed were:
- Reduction of total WAN links by 38%. Consolidation of multiple links per site and ability to use their existing internet lines, to deliver optimal branch connectivity.
- Internet-based WAN enabled direct cloud connectivity without backhauling data to a central site. This dramatically improved access time to SaaS applications such as Office 365 and SharePoint online.
- Simplified branch IT through reduced hardware footprint – combining 4 device functions into 1 and a single SDWAN fabric for site-to-site and site-to-cloud communication.
- SAP/K2 and SharePoint performance was better than MPLS most of the time, aided by a performant network. Active-Active utilisation of the circuits meant that branch bandwidth increased by over 50% compared to what they had in the past.
- Establishing a secure network for integrating cloud applications into the SDWAN fabric and ready to incorporate features such as a built-in next-generation firewall with provisions for Guest Wifi security and SASE in phase 2.
WHAT WE LEARNT:
Customers trust Tata Communications with their mission-critical transformation agendas to help solve problems of scale, cost reduction, simplicity and deliver a network ready for tomorrow. Visit Tata Communications IZOTM Multi Cloud Connect to know more.
Digital transformation is, by now, a cliched topic. But it is equally real, for organisations in these times. Compelling reasons like staying competitive – providing customers with a digital interface to engage; improving operational efficiency – through data-driven decision making; enhancing employee engagement, while strengthening security postures, etc. Organisations across all industries have a need to transform. The semiconductor industry is no different, and our customer felt the need to handle business challenges, of material handling, process improvements & data confidentiality and the new normal after the pandemic.